do dogs get colds?

pebblesmom · Member Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 30

i swear my puppy has a stuffy nose...for the last couple of days she's had a little bit of runny discharge from her nose..(not a lot, but i've noticed it while she's sleeping in my lap) and when i let her out of her crate in the morning and she's getting all excited her nose sounds congested...sort of 'snorty'..once she's up and moving around she seems ok, she's eating, playing and acting normally otherwise...but i never heard of a dog getting a cold and wondered if it could be something else..? thanks in advance for any help..

DeLaUK · Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 12:20 pm Post subject:

They can get upper respiratory infections like kennel cough where you sometimes see a discharge from the nose. How old is your pup? Has she had all vaccines? Is the discharge clear or greenish? I would monitor the pup, if its not clearing up within a few days or you see any signs of coughing, sneezing, lethargy, loss of appetite, acting painful anywhere, vomiting or diarrhea you should go to a vet.
It could just be caused from irritation from the pups bedding, does she have a blanket in the crate? Just wondering as you say its when she comes out of her crate or laying on you that you notice, could be the laundry detergent, the snorting is not uncommon for some dogs after they get excited, do you mean like a reverse sneeze? It could also be a foreign body (piece of hair, fluff, dirt etc) but now Im stretching.

lil96 · Super Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Posts: 1276

laundry detergent is scary!! there was a post a while back about a dog who had someknocked into his crate and the dog sat in it all day and had a horrible rash, like burns! so be careful about detergent. but dogs can get colds and stuff.

horse_child · Member Joined: 18 Jun 2004 Posts: 433

since it's spring the first thing that popped into my head was allergies. any chance there could be something blooming that could be bothering her?

pebblesmom · Member Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 30

thanks for the replies...she does have blankets in her crate, but i've been using the same laundry detergent since the beginning, she's almost 3 months old and will be getting her last set of shots this week. She's playing and eating and pooping normally, just a little clear runniness from her nose, and maybe a sneeze or two once in a while...she really doesn't make the snorting noises except in the morning when she's all worked up about saying good morning...she had kennel cough when i got her, and this doesn't sound anything like that...hmmm...i'm not sure if it could be allergies...believe me, there's nothing blooming around here that isn't buried under snow..lol

Shineillusion · Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:06 pm Post subject:

Believe it or not, a lot of trees, especially maple trees, are blossoming right now, unless you're WAY north. The blossoms are tiny, hardly noticable, but they produce a lot of pollen.

Just like people, dogs can develop allergies to just about anything, just about any time. It doesn't matter if they've never been allergic to something before. Once their immune system sensitizes to it, they're allergic. I was never allergic to pine until 5 years ago. Now i have to get an artificial Christmas tree or itch through the holidays.